In a recent letter to Karen Mills, head of the US Small Business Administration, Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts recommended that her agency establish clear eligibility guidelines for small business cooperatives attempting to access SBA loans. As Kerry observed in his letter, "Small cooperatives face the same challenges that other small businesses do and are in need of fair lending opportunities." Kerry called on Mills to review outdated SBA policies that effectively deny more than 3400 ...

Karel Van Hulle, Head of the Insurance & Pensions Unit, European Commission Directorate-General for Internal Market & Services was one of the key speakers at the recent ICMIF Biennial Conference and spoke on the topic of solvency and capital requirements for cooperatives/mutuals. Karel has, for the last several years, overseen the Solvency II project on behalf of the European Commission’s insurance and pension unit. In his opening remarks Karel commented that “the world is facing ...

The European Union’s new Solvency II Directive imposing stronger obligations on insurers regarding risk management and capital adequacy should be welcomed.